Word: beirutization
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After its founding in Cairo in 1017, the enigmatic movement gradually spread to the Levant. Eventually it entrenched itself in particular in the heart of the Chouf, overlooking Beirut. During the 17th century an aristocratic Kurdish warrior clan, the Jumblatts (the name means heart of steel), joined the Druze and eventually became one of the group's two dominant families. At about the same time, the Druze formed an alliance with the Maronite Christians under the leadership of a Druze emir. In the 19th century, the aggressively ascendant Maronites sought to consolidate their power over Lebanon. Alarmed, the Druze...
...Italians, 2,100 strong and posted in Beirut's southern suburbs, protect the scenes of last year's massacre and also the Bourj-el-Barajneh refugee camp. Highly motorized, like the French, they maintain regular patrols, and also provide more assistance to civilians in their area than do the other contingents. Two Italian mobile clinics make daily tours of the refugee camps, ministering to the health needs of the Palestinians...
...Americans, 1,200 Marines, took up positions around Beirut Airport, originally facing Israeli occupation lines. Now the Israelis have withdrawn to positions farther south, and the Marines' encampment is highly exposed to shelling from the Chouf; they cannot prevent frequent closings of the airport. Primarily a fight-on-foot force, they have hunkered down behind sandbags and no longer patrol beyond the airport. The Americans lead a more spartan and lonely existence than their European counterparts: only one hot meal a day, a lot of field rations, and a restrictive policy on recreation in and around Beirut...
...barricade." The Muslim and Christian names that President Amin Gemayel so deftly joined are symbols of what makes Lebanon unique in the Arab world, while the word barricade was a reference to what has often divided this most contentious of nations. After his return to the presidential palace outside Beirut, Gemayel spoke at length with TIME'S Middle East bureau chief, William Stewart. It was his first interview with any U.S. publication in the year since he took office. Stewart's report...
Amin resumes: "It's been like this since August. I've grown used to it, but I miss my family. Yesterday 1 went to Bikfaya [the Gemayels' village in the mountain district northeast of Beirut]. It was another world. Did you know my house there had been shelled? My wife was in the room next to where the shell exploded. But of course I can't bring them here. I don't know if any President in the world has been in such a situation...